Foreign workers entering Vietnam to work, depending on their position and title, will be subject to the requirement of having a Work Permit. Therefore, VN Law Firm provides readers with the conditions, documents, and procedures for applying for a Work Permit according to current legal regulations.
1. Conditions for foreign workers working in Vietnam
According to Article 151 of the Labor Code of Vietnam 2019, foreign workers working in Vietnam are individuals of foreign nationality and must meet the following conditions:
– 18 years of age or older and have full legal capacity;
– Have professional qualifications, technical skills, and work experience; be healthy enough according to the regulations of the Minister of Health;
– Not currently serving a sentence, have a criminal record expunged, or be currently facing criminal prosecution under foreign law or Vietnamese law;
– Have a work permit issued by a competent state agency of Vietnam, except for cases where foreign workers working in Vietnam are not subject to a Work Permit.
2. Conditions for recruiting and employing foreign workers in Vietnam
Article 152 of the Labor Code 2019 stipulates the conditions for recruiting and employing foreign workers in Vietnam as follows:
– Enterprises, agencies, organizations, individuals, and contractors may only recruit foreign workers for management, executive, expert, and technical positions that Vietnamese workers cannot fulfill according to production and business needs.
– Enterprises, agencies, organizations, and individuals, before recruiting foreign workers to work in Vietnam, must explain their demand for labor and obtain written approval from a competent state agency.
– Contractors, before recruiting and employing foreign workers in Vietnam, must declare specific job positions, professional qualifications, technical skills, work experience, and the working duration for which foreign labor is needed to execute the package, and obtain written approval from a competent state agency.
See more: Cases where foreign workers are not subject to a work permit
3. Documents and procedures for applying for a Work Permit
3.1. Documents required for applying for a Work Permit
The documents required for applying for a Work Permit are stipulated in Article 18 of Decree 219/2025/NĐ-CP, including:
– Document from the employer reporting on the demand for foreign labor and requesting a work permit (according to Form No. 03) issued with Decree 219/2025/NĐ-CP;
– Health certificate issued by a qualified medical examination and treatment facility, except where health examination results have been connected and shared on the Information System for managing medical examination and treatment activities or the national health database. For health certificates issued by competent foreign medical facilities, they can be used if Vietnam and the country or territory issuing the health certificate have a treaty or mutual recognition agreement, and the validity period of such health certificate does not exceed 12 months from the date of issuance.
– Valid passport.
– Criminal record check or a document confirming that the foreign worker is not currently serving a sentence, has not had their criminal record expunged, or is not currently facing criminal prosecution by foreign or Vietnamese law, issued no more than 6 months from the date of issuance to the date of application submission, except for cases where administrative procedures for issuing criminal record checks and work permits have been interconnected as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 6 of this Decree.
– 02 color photos (4 cm x 6 cm, white background, straight face, bare head, no glasses).
– Documents proving the form of employment of the foreign worker, which must be one of the following:
+ A document from the employer abroad sending the foreign worker to work for a definite period at a commercial presence in Vietnamese territory and confirming that the foreign worker has been employed by the employer abroad for at least 12 consecutive months immediately prior to entering Vietnam to work, for cases specified in Point b, Clause 1, Article 2 of this Decree;
+ A document from the employer sending the foreign worker, accompanied by a signed contract or agreement, for cases specified in Point c, Point i, Clause 1, Article 2 of this Decree;
+ A service contract signed between a Vietnamese and foreign partner and a document proving that the foreign worker has worked for a foreign enterprise without a commercial presence in Vietnam for at least 24 months, for cases specified in Point d, Clause 1, Article 2 of this Decree;
+ For cases specified in Point dd, Clause 1, Article 2 of this Decree, there must be a document from the service provider sending the foreign worker to Vietnam to negotiate service provision;
+ A document from the employer abroad sending the foreign worker to work in Vietnam, compatible with the expected job position, for cases specified in Point h, Clause 1, Article 2 of this Decree;
+ For cases specified in Point l, Clause 1, Article 2 of this Decree, there must be documents proving the person is a manager as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 3 of this Decree.
– Documents proving that the foreign worker is a manager, executive director, expert, or technical worker as stipulated in Article 19 of this Decree.
3.2. Work permit issuance procedure
– Within 60 days but not less than 10 days before the foreign worker’s expected start date, the employer shall submit the application for a work permit directly or via public postal services, or through the services of an enterprise, individual, or via authorization to the Public Administration Service Center in the locality where the foreign worker is expected to work.
– The local Public Administration Service Center shall transfer the application dossier in accordance with the law on administrative procedures implementation under the one-stop shop, inter-agency one-stop shop mechanism at the one-stop department and the National Public Service Portal to the competent agency for work permit issuance.
– Within 10 working days from the date of receiving a complete application for a work permit, the competent authority shall review and approve the demand and issue a work permit for the foreign worker..
In cases where the demand for foreign labor is not approved or a work permit is not issued to a foreign worker, a written response stating the reasons must be provided within 03 working days from the date of receiving a complete application.
– For foreign workers as stipulated in Points a and m, Clause 1, Article 2 of Decree 219/2025/NĐ-CP, after the foreign worker is granted a work permit, the employer and the foreign worker must sign a written labor contract in accordance with Vietnamese labor law before the expected start date. When requested, the employer must send a copy of the signed labor contract to the competent agency that issued the work permit.
– If a foreign worker who has been granted a work permit wishes to work for the same employer in multiple provinces or centrally run cities, at least 3 days before the expected start date, the employer must notify the competent authority where the foreign worker is expected to work with the following information: full name, age, nationality, passport number, work permit number, name of the foreign employer, start date, and end date of work, not exceeding the validity period of the issued work permit.
4. Work permit validity period
The validity period of a work permit is granted according to the term of one of the following cases but shall not exceed 02 years:
– The term of the expected labor contract to be signed;
– The term stated in the document from the foreign party sending the foreign worker to work in Vietnam;
– The term of the contract or agreement signed between Vietnamese and foreign partners, or between Vietnamese partners;
– The term of the service contract or agreement signed between Vietnamese and foreign partners;
– The term stated in the document from the service provider sending the foreign worker to Vietnam to negotiate service provision;
– The term specified in the business license, establishment, or operation license of the agency, organization, or enterprise;
– The term stated in the document from the service provider sending the foreign worker to Vietnam to establish a commercial presence of that service provider;
– The term stated in the document proving that the foreign worker is allowed to participate in the activities of a foreign enterprise that has established a commercial presence in Vietnam;
– The term stated in the document from the foreign party sending the foreign worker according to an international agreement or treaty to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member;
– The term stated in the document from the foreign party sending the foreign worker according to an international agreement signed by central or provincial agencies and organizations.
